International: United Kingdom
Why expensive gas – not net-zero – is keeping UK electricity prices so high
28 May 2025
The UK’s high electricity prices have become intensely political, with competing claims over the cause of rocketing bills and how best to get them down.
Watchdog urges Scotland to take action after repeatedly missing climate targets
23 May 2025
Climate Change Committee says original goal of a 75% emissions cut by 2030 will now be delayed by up to six years.
EU, UK to work on linking carbon markets
21 May 2025
The European Commission and the government of the UK announced today an agreement to work towards linking their carbon markets through establishing a link between their emissions trading systems (ETS), which have been developing separately since Brexit.
Deadly April rainfall in US South and Midwest was intensified by climate change, scientists say
12 May 2025
Human-caused climate change intensified deadly rainfall in Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and other states in early April and made it more likely to occur.
Real-world geoengineering experiments revealed by UK agency
9 May 2025
Trials will test ways to block sunlight and slow climate crisis that threatens to trigger catastrophic tipping points.
UK: The choppy waters between North Sea oil and green energy revolution
9 May 2025
The Great Energy Transition is under way, and may come to define this era, but it's not going smoothly.
UK: How the political consensus on climate change has shattered
7 May 2025
When the UK became the first major economy in the world to commit to reducing its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, there was so little disagreement among MPs it was simply 'nodded through' without a vote.
Carbon capture company wins $5m to scale up
6 May 2025
UNDO, founded by Jim Mann, won an Xprize competition offering cash prizes for projects that could combat climate change.
UK banks put £75bn into firms building climate-wrecking ‘carbon bombs’, study finds
5 May 2025
Britain is the key financial hub for destructive fossil fuel mega-projects, according to research.
UK is not ready for coming climate ‘disaster,’ government advisers warn
1 May 2025
Despite increased examples of extreme weather, advisers say ‘we are seeing no increase in action’.
UK project trials carbon capture at sea to help tackle climate change
1 May 2025
The world is betting heavily on carbon capture — a term that refers to various techniques to stop carbon pollution from being released during industrial processes, or removing existing carbon from the atmosphere, to then lock it up permanently.
UK: Tony Blair at war with Ed Miliband over net zero
30 Apr 2025
Tony Blair has warned of a credibility gap with voters over sacrifices needed to get to net zero, but Ed Miliband’s allies point out his agenda was part of Labour’s victorious election manifesto.
Area burned by UK wildfires in 2025 already at annual record
29 Apr 2025
The area of the UK burnt by wildfires so far this year is already higher than the total for any year in more than a decade, satellite data suggests.
Just Stop Oil was policed to extinction – now the movement has gone deeper underground
28 Apr 2025
Just Stop Oil activists are dusting down their placards, digging out their infamous fluorescent orange vests, and charging up their loud hailers — a routine they have gone through many a time before.
Extinction Rebellion co-founder loses appeal over Heathrow drone conspiracy
23 Apr 2025
The co-founder of environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion has lost a Court of Appeal bid to have a conviction for conspiring to fly drones over Heathrow to close it, quashed.
Wildfire warnings issued as UK temperatures set to reach 24C on Friday
11 Apr 2025
London fire brigade asks people to behave responsibly and Scottish fire and rescue service gives ‘extreme’ alert.
UK to relax electric car rules as US tariffs hit
8 Apr 2025
The government has announced a relaxation of electric vehicle sales targets to help the car industry in the face of trade tariffs from the US.
London police arrest six people at climate change meeting
1 Apr 2025
British police raided a Quaker meeting house in London on Thursday and arrested six women attending a meeting on climate change and the war in Gaza, according to a statement from Quakers UK.
Why middle class Brits who think collapse is coming still stay silent
28 Mar 2025
OPINION: In one hand, an oat latte. In the other, a phone with social feeds full of doom-scroll posts about the end of the world. Across Britain, a quiet transformation is happening.
Britain considering linking with EU carbon market
25 Mar 2025
Britain is actively considering the case for linking its Emissions Trading System (ETS) with the European Union's carbon market ahead of a UK-EU Summit in May, the government said on Thursday.
UK: new national forest to see 20 million trees planted
24 Mar 2025
Twenty million trees will be planted and 2,500 hectares (6,178 acres) of new woodland created in the west of England as part of a "national forest" drive, the government has announced.
Factcheck: Why Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is wrong about UK's net-zero goal
20 Mar 2025
The leader of the opposition Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch, has shattered the political consensus on climate change in a speech attacking the UK's net-zero by 2050 target.
Conservative party to ditch commitment to net zero in UK by 2050
19 Mar 2025
Kemi Badenoch is dropping her party's commitment to reaching net zero by 2050, as she launches the Conservatives' widest policy review in a generation.
UK carbon prices surge as minister talks about EU market linkage
14 Mar 2025
UK carbon futures jumped on Wednesday after a Treasury minister said the government would consider linking the country's emissions market to the European Union's system.
Dramatic fall in London's levels of deadly pollutants after low emissions zone expansion
10 Mar 2025
People in the UK capital are breathing much cleaner air, with significant improvements in the city's most deprived areas.
UK government announces plans to axe oil and gas windfall tax in 2030
10 Mar 2025
The Government has announced plans to end a windfall tax on oil and gas profits in 2030 as it launches a consultation on the future of the North Sea energy sector.
UK: Reducing emissions 87% by 2040 could cut household costs
4 Mar 2025
The UK should cut its emissions to 87% below 1990 levels by 2040 under its seventh five-yearly "carbon budget", according to official advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC).
Britain's net zero economy 'booming'
25 Feb 2025
Green sector growing at triple the rate of the UK economy, providing high-wage jobs and increasing energy security.
The Tories set the UK net zero target. Now they are dumping it
24 Feb 2025
The 2050 goal "leaves us economically worse off," Conservative energy chief Andrew Bowie said.
'I'm not a scientist': Net Zero opponent Nigel Farage admits climate ignorance
21 Feb 2025
The Reform UK leader reiterated false climate claims at Jordan Peterson's Alliance for Responsible Citizenship event in London.
Bison are bringing back biodiversity to Britain
21 Feb 2025
In just a few years, the only free-roaming bison herd in the U.K. has already made a tangible difference in the surrounding ecosystem.
There isn't enough 'sustainable' aviation fuel to make a dent in our emissions - and there won't be for years
13 Feb 2025
Burning SAF actually emits a similar amount of CO2 to fossil jet fuel. Most emissions 'savings' come from how we account for the waste and renewable energy that is used to produce it.
UK halves subsidies for wood-burning power plant
12 Feb 2025
The UK government has halved subsidies for the Drax power station, which was converted from burning coal to wood biomass. The North Yorkshire power plant has also been ordered it to use 100% sustainable wood, following criticism for burning wood pellets sourced from US and Canadian forests.
Green campaigners fear UK to renew subsidies to Drax power station
10 Feb 2025
Green campaigners fear ministers are poised to award billions of pounds in fresh subsidies to Drax power station, despite strong concerns that burning trees to produce electricity is bad for the environment.
Nine percent of England's farmland needs to be converted into wildlife habitats and forests
5 Feb 2025
Roughly nine percent of England's farmland needs to be converted into habitats for wildlife and forest by 2050 in order to meet the country's nature and net-zero goals, according to a consultation launched by Steve Reed, the United Kingdom's environment secretary.
In historic win, court rules against UK's Rosebank oilfield over climate impacts
3 Feb 2025
The decision by the previous Conservative government in the United Kingdom to approve the giant Rosebank oilfield off Shetland was ruled unlawful by an Edinburgh court on Thursday.
UK drops climate and nature bill
31 Jan 2025
In dropping the bill, UK Labour ministers avoided an internal party row by promising potential rebels supporting the bill they would have input into environmental legislation.
The bitter final showdown over British coal, as sun sets on ‘dirtiest fuel’
20 Dec 2024
The county of Cumbria in Northern England has become the battleground for a final war, which is raging over plans to build a new coal mine.
How the UK plans to reach clean power by 2030
19 Dec 2024
The UK government has set out an “action plan” for reaching its target of clean power by 2030, which it describes as “the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations”.
Government unveils new powers to approve onshore wind farms
16 Dec 2024
The government has unveiled plans to give ministers the final say on approving large onshore wind farms rather than leaving decisions to local councils, where opposition has often been fierce.
UK 'not ready' for extreme weather
10 Dec 2024
The government is "not ready" for the sort of extreme weather brought by Storm Darragh, the new head of the Climate Change Committee has warned.
Oil and gas investments of Donald Trump’s new UK ambassador
9 Dec 2024
Campaigners warn that the UK will face “pressure from American fossil fuel interests” to slow its energy transition.
Burping cows, Bovaer and boycotts: The anti-methane additive that’s taking social media by storm
5 Dec 2024
UK shoppers have threatened to boycott supermarkets Tesco, Aldi and Morrisons over a ‘miracle’ methane-busting additive trial.
We have officially advised our university to ditch carbon offsets – and focus on cutting emissions
3 Dec 2024
Some would say carbon offsetting offers us a way out. At the University of Exeter we have explored the role of carbon offsets in the university’s very ambitious target of net zero by 2030.
Clean-up continues for areas hit by Storm Bert
28 Nov 2024
Heavy rain and high winds caused widespread disruption across Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, with damage to homes, shops and roads.
Ford cuts jobs claiming weak demand for electric cars
22 Nov 2024
The company said it had to act because of difficult trading conditions, including intense competition and weak demand for electric vehicles.
UK unveils principles for voluntary market in nature credits
15 Nov 2024
The UK is setting out its own principles for the voluntary market for nature credits, representing a vote of confidence in a largely experimental financial product that’s intended to protect biodiversity.
Scotland passes climate change legislation
7 Nov 2024
Scotland has officially scrapped annual climate targets as well as its 2030 and 2040 interim targets, but is still aiming to reach net-zero by 2045.
COP29: What is the ‘new collective quantified goal’ on climate finance?
6 Nov 2024
As nations assemble at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, one issue is expected to dominate the summit: climate finance.
UK’s next Paris pledge should commit to ‘81% emissions cut by 2035’: govt advisors
29 Oct 2024
The UK should make an international pledge to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 81% below 1990 levels by 2035, according to the government’s advisory Climate Change Committee.
Climate and rock art advocates take on ‘carbon bomb’ gas project in Aus federal court
Wed 22 Jul 2026
The Albanese government’s decision to approve one of the world’s largest gas projects in Western Australia is being challenged in the federal court, setting up a significant test of how Australia’s environment law deals with the climate crisis.
Trump blames Canada for wildfire smoke affecting US
Tue 21 Jul 2026
A series of Republican “leaders” have started producing angry denunciations of Canada for polluting America’s air with their "thoughtless" fires.
China solar exports to South, Southeast Asia and Africa rise despite post-rebate slump
Wed 22 Jul 2026
China's solar exports to Southeast and South Asia as well as Africa rose year-over-year in June, customs data showed on Monday, though overall solar exports slipped for a second month after China removed an export tax rebate.
Norway’s national oil company’s profits double to $11.5bn amid war on Iran
Fri 24 Jul 2026
Profits at Norway’s state oil company nearly doubled to $11.5bn (£8.6bn) in the three months to the end of June as the jump in oil and gas prices caused by the war against Iran boosted earnings.
Ontario seeks federal support for evacuations as wildfires devastate remote Canadian towns
Mon 20 Jul 2026
Ontario requested federal assistance to evacuate people from remote northern Canadian communities ravaged by wildfires on Thursday, as smoke brought poor air quality to Toronto and much of the Northeastern U.S.
Extreme heat costing India’s poorest workers 2% of GDP, survey finds
Thu 23 Jul 2026
India’s informal workers are estimated to be losing $78 billion in wages per year because of productivity declines and illness caused by intensifying heat.
French Polynesia objects to an American seabed mining plan made without its input
Fri 24 Jul 2026
The government of French Polynesia plans to challenge an American startup’s proposal to explore the waters just beyond its maritime borders for seabed mining.
‘I can’t work in the farce of climate change cruise tourism anymore’: why Antarctic guides quit their dream jobs
Wed 22 Jul 2026
“You’d see massive glacier calvings, and you’d just want to cry. But all the guests would be cheering. And you’d be like … ‘can you not put two and two together?’”
West Africa signs off $25bn mega gas-pipeline plan
Wed 22 Jul 2026
One of Africa's most ambitious energy infrastructure projects has finally been signed off at the highest level, with West African leaders formally endorsing the long-awaited Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline.
Panama Canal braces for El Niño, announcing first transit restrictions
Fri 24 Jul 2026
The probability of a severe El Nino has risen from 25% to 81% and the Panama Canal is preparing to restrict transits.
COP31 president says electrification is ‘surest way to protect citizens’
14 Jul 2026
Last month, COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum launched a target for 35% of the world’s final energy to come from electricity by 2035. In an interview with Carbon Brief, Kurum says that the target was not a political choice, but instead reflects the latest evidence on “what is needed to keep 1.5C within reach”.
